


Mistletoe And Gingerbread

by pikkugen



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Gingerbread People, Not Beta Read, Other, Reader Is Not Frisk (Undertale), So I Have A Thing For Orphan Main Characters So Sue Me, reader's gender not mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-27 12:16:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17161817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pikkugen/pseuds/pikkugen
Summary: It's your first Christmas alone in a strange city. How lucky you find a bunch of nice people to spend it with... especially one specific nice person. Gingerbread people and mistletoe are in order!





	Mistletoe And Gingerbread

**Author's Note:**

> This is an old story I wrote a few years ago and thought gone after my old computer crashed. Probably luckily I found it on an old USB drive... and because there's not enough kissy fluff in the world, here, have a silly little fluff party from Undertale, starring Yet Another Nameless Orphan, because that's my favorite trope for a Christmas story. Sometimes you just gotta write some wish-fulfillment.

In two weeks it was going to be your first Christmas alone, in a strange city, and you hadn't managed to make any friends in these few months with whom you might spend the holidays. There were pros and cons in being an orphan and a freshman in the university. At least you thought you could afford some gifts for yourself, thanks to your night job.

The office building where you worked as a janitor was on the other side of the city from both the campus and your apartment, so you hardly ever had time to go home except for sleeping. The student diner was affordable, but that was no help late in the night when you finished your job hungry as a wolf, so you were always searching for a pub or a fast food place that would offer cheap food in the late hours. Tonight you were walking a quiet street on the monster side of the city heading for home, when a bar with a line of Christmas lights above the door appeared from behind a corner. The mouth-watering scent of everything deep-fried wafted from the open door, and you took a step inside before you even thought where you were. 

Not that the monster side was anything to fear for. The monsters had been living in the city for a couple of years now, and despite all the publicity and racistic opinions and several idiotic humans, they had never initiated any conflict, either with humans or themselves. The police didn't go to the monster side - they hardly ever needed to. Some monsters served in their ranks and mostly they had to deal with humans attacking monsters, either verbally or physically. Some of your workmates were monsters, and you really didn't know anyone more diligent or kind. 

You just weren't prepared for a bar full of monsters of every variation, all turning their heads to you in surprise. 

A waiter set a huge plate of fries on a table in front of a very big-toothed plantlike monster and turned to you. He was in a neat bartender's uniform, but you couldn't help staring a bit - he was literally in fire. A pair of small glasses indicated where his eyes might be, but all else was a hypnotic, flickering orange flame. He indicated to the counter with his head and you followed him trying not to stare. 

"Um, could I have a plate of fries, and, a, hot chocolate, please?" you said checking the menu, climbing on the only free chair of the whole place beside a small skeleton - skeleton? but a rude noise interrupted you. The small skeleton chuckled amused when you dug a whoopee cushion from under the pillow of the chair. 

"you should watch where you sit, kid", said the skeleton. "some people put whoopiee cushions on the chairs here." The barkeeper seemed to sigh deeply as he went to the kitchen, and you could tear your eyes off him only after the door had closed behind him. 

You took the cushion, squeezed it a couple of times for fun, and put it on the counter. The little skeleton quickly snatched it into his pocket. "name's sans. sans the skeleton." You told your name and added, "So that's why the seat was empty. I was wondering." He laughed some more and, when the fiery man brought your order, added "hot chocolate, eh? not the hot barkeeper?" You blushed a bit; you had been staring again. The fire monster took a bottle of ketchup from under the counter and placed it next to you, very carefully away from the skeleton - Sans. You smiled a bit and shook your head and took a bite of a crisp hot potato. 

You had to close your eyes for a moment. Maybe it was because you were hungry, maybe it was the atmosphere of the place, but you had never had better fries in your life. They were crisp, just the right amount of salty, soft in the inside and not at all greasy. 

"These are THE best fries I've ever had!" you claimed aloud, watching the barkeeper, and he nodded gravely before turning to other customers. You thought he looked pleased with himself, though. The hot chocolate was absolutely delicious, too.

"if you're not having any of that ketchup, would you mind passing it _tomato_?" said Sans, pulling you back from staring at the barkeeper. "heh. seems like you have your eyes _alight_ for our grillbz here? well, he's _on fire_ tonight." He took the bottle of ketchup from you and drank the whole bottle without blinking. You stared at him for a change. "what, never seen a skeleton drink ketchup?"

"Where's the pun in that?" you asked, perplexed. 

"heh. kid, you _ketchup_ fast. what brings you to grillby's?"

You told him of your work and studies, and soon your fries and your hot chocolate were finished. You paid for your food, fascinated to see how the paper money didn't burn in Grillby's fingers, left a good tip and made your way to the door. You turned back for a moment, catching (you hoped) Grillby's eye and waving to him a little with the widest, stupidest happy grin on your face. Then you went out to the cold, cruel December night, put your hands deep into your pockets and started walking home - but now you knew where you'd be again tomorrow night. There was something positive to look forward to. 

True enough, the next night you almost danced the rainy streets to the bar and the warmth and the best fries (and the hottest bartender) ever, and once there you found much the same people in much the same places. Now you had the patience and curiosity to look at other monsters in the bar, and you saw a table full of dog-like monsters playing poker, some teenager-looking ones lounging around a jukebox playing something you vaguely recognized as some monster DJ:s latest hit, a pack of bunny-like monsters sharing gossip and giggling in a booth, and of course the short skeleton in his place by the counter. The chair next to him was empty again, and you poked it warily before sitting and ordering the same as the last night. You planned on trying everything on the list – well, everything that might be edible by a human – but right now you needed to convince yourself that the fries were as wonderful as you remembered. 

They were. Sans made a pun about your choice of food, Grillby just managed to look long-suffering at that, and shivering you took off your wet coat and hung it on the back of your chair to dry. It wouldn't be totally dry in the time you ate, but it would definitely be more comfortable. You felt warm and comfortable enough with Grillby polishing some glasses behind the counter and occasionally moving out to serve other customers. You knew you were staring again. Sans bombarded you with fire-related puns before snoozing off on the counter. 

You never wanted to leave. But today was Thursday and tomorrow you had both an exam and work until late, so you paid for your fries and hot chocolate and took your coat reluctantly. 

To your surprise it was dry. Dry and warm, like it had been hanging before a fire. Sans woke and grinned to your amazed look and made a little gesture towards Grillby. The fire monster just nodded shortly, and you thought he was smiling a bit. You thanked him breathlessly, buried your flustered face to your collar and sidled towards the door. 

You gave way to a larger skeleton in an equally wet coat and heard him bellow "SANS! YOU NO-GOOD LAZYBONES! YOU HAVE WORK TOMORROW AND I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE ARRIVED TO GET YOU HOME BEFORE THAT!!" Sans jumped down from his chair and drawled, "yeah, bro. 'eard you. coming right away. just put it on my tab, grillbz." The bartender's flames fluttered irritatedly for a moment, and you just couldn't tear your eyes away from them. Sans passed you on the door, saw your stare and chuckled. "really have the _hots_ for him, kid? don't let the _flame_ die, then. fan the fire!" The bigger skeleton groaned loudly at that, grabbed Sans' arm and pulled him out with him. You followed them, said goodbyes and went your way, hearing for at least a block away how Sans was being berated by his much larger brother. 

Predictably, the Friday night was just as cold and rainy - and you were sitting warm and comfy at Grillby's, with no intention to leave before absolutely necessary. You nibbled at your fries and a burger, which was just as delicious as the fries. Your hot chocolate was getting lukewarm by the time you managed to sip it, but when he noticed it, Grillby just closed his hand around the mug for a second and suddenly the drink was steaming again. 

You were smiling so widely you thought your mouth would tear. A red bird-like monster on your left gave a cawing laugh and asked you if this was the first time you saw magic in use. You had an educating conversation about it. You played some poker with the dog monsters, and despite you being absolutely bad at poker, you won because they were worse. A very drunk bunny monster told you they had been dating a human but they didn't think it was going to last. An ugly fish-monster asked you for tips on hitting on human ladies (you declined). 

It was getting very late, and you were nursing your drink at the counter and exchanging puns with Sans. Your current theme was the upcoming holidays, and as a by-the-by, Sans asked you if you were going home for Christmas. He clearly had some pun waiting for your answer, but you just grew quiet and stared a long time into your empty mug.

"I don't really have a home to go to," you said fighting tears. "My mother died ten months ago, she was the only family I had. I - I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm sorry. I have to go now." Tears were flowing now and you didn't want to cry in front of them. You fumbled with your bag for money, or a handkerchief, or anything really, until you felt something warm touch your arm. You wiped your eyes a couple of times and saw a flaming hand touching lightly your sleeve. Grillby put another mug of hot chocolate before you and then slid a flyer next to it. His big warm hand covered yours for a long moment before he turned away. 

The flyer read in big happy letters, "SNOWDIN CHRISTMAS! Just like Christmas back in Snowdin! 25.12. at Grillby's, bring your own favourites. Maybe even Santa Claus will come!" Smaller print described people and foods and other things there would be. 

As you read, your tears started to dry and your breathing eased. This sounded like something you'd like to do. At least now you knew you had a place to go, somewhere else than your dreary little apartment in a decrepit housing complex. 

You drew a shaky breath and looked at Grillby. "Thanks, I'd love to come", you said sincerely. 

"well, kid. everyone and their cousin will be there, meaning mettaton and napstablook. probably shyren, too. good show." 

"What does 'bring your favourites' mean?"

"there's food all right, by grillbz here and muffet too, but if there's something you like and would like to share, bring it. also traditions. gifts, too. if you want. asgore'll play santa again, he loves it."

You thought for a moment. "Gifts?" 

"you know. something little. wrap it up and put a name tag on, and santa-gore will deliver it. snow problem."

"I was thinking gingerbread men... monsters? If I bring a batch of dough, can I make and bake them here, maybe one for everyone?" You looked at Grillby, and he nodded gravely. 

"might take a while, though. there's quite a handful of us coming."

"It's okay, I've done individual gingerbread men before in huge numbers. I meant to become a confectioner when I was younger, but my m-mother persuaded me to go to the uni. I could always start that career later on, if my studies didn't go well." You were already planning on making your own special royal icing in all the different colours and thinking how to paint the Grillby cookie so that the flaming effect would really come out. 

"fire-gazing again? you better not get burn." You jumped a bit, gave an embarrassed smile at Grillby and explained a little bit too quickly: "I've just always loved to watch live fire. " You blushed deeply as you realized what you had said and Sans, the bastard, chuckled even more. "well, you picked your place well, kid. you don't get a fire more alive than grillby. 

gotta go home, or else paps will come _pudding_ at me again. seeya, kid. grillbz.” 

You waved at him and dug your purse out. It was later than you thought and the place was empty; it must have been past closing time. ”What do I owe you?” 

Grillby shook his head and gently shoved your hand with the money away. He pushed the flyer to you and took your empty mugs to the kitchen, and you smiled and sighed as you packed the flyer, jumped down from your chair and went for your coat. You fished your warm scarf from a pocket and wrapped it tightly, but before you could shrug your coat on, Grillby was back and holding it to you. You blushed and let him help it on, and felt his warm hands stay on your shoulders for a while. 

”Thanks, Grillby”, you said almost leaning into his hands. "It really means a lot to have a place to go to for the holidays." You felt a warm touch on your hair When you finally walked out of the door into the cold, the warmth of his hands stayed with you the whole way home. 

Unfortunately you had still four more days until Snowdin Christmas party. During the weekend you prepared a huge amount of gingerbread cookie dough with your own recipe and an equally huge amount of royal icing in all the colours you could figure how to make. You tried your hand making some of the monsters beforehand, Sans for example, and the dog monsters. You tried out several ways of creating Grillby's flames but weren't satisfied with any of the results. 

Monday night you headed back to Grillby's after work and found new monsters in, either talking to Sans very excitedly or bringing stuff for the party to storage. You were fascinated by a spider lady - Muffet, her name was - who was partly in charge of catering. Her goods were marvellous, and when she heard you had wanted to become a confectioner, she gave a small soft laugh and said that she had a café a few blocks away and she was eager to lure in more clientele - namely humans. You promised to visit after the holidays, but didn't dare to ask if she would be hiring. 

You made discreet notes on all the new monster types you saw, and when Grillby saw what you were doing, he placed a large jute-backed album next to you. It was full of photos of monsters in what you thought was the underground place they had come from, in different areas and places. You noticed that one character you knew was very obviously missing in all the photos, and thought Grillby must have taken the photos himself. Quite a lot of the pictures were from inside a bar that looked very much like this one, making you more sure of their origin. 

In one you saw Sans drinking ketchup with a small human child who was laughing at him, and you recognized the child as the monster ambassador. You were so concentrated on the picture you didn't notice that Sans had come to sit beside you in his usual chair and was watching the pictures with you.

"showing them your pictures, grillbz? hope you confiscated the embarrassing ones." You jumped and said hello to him. A bony finger tapped a picture of a smiling green flame girl who was standing next to a purple girl with horns and a skateboard. "that's his niece fuku. she got accepted to the uni at the capital. a clever one. grillby has been taking care of her since her parents died. he hopes she'll be here for the holidays." Oh. So that's why he was being so kind to you, not for... any other reason you might have imagined. Your face fell for a second, but you hoped he didn't notice. 

You rose having leafed the album through, thanked Grillby and left a good tip again, and left. You turned at the door, but he was busy serving drinks to a bunch of monsters and you sneaked out without disturbing him. The night was very cold and lonely on your way home. 

The last workday before Christmas was hell, as you might have guessed. People were so eager to get home in time for preparations that they left behind an even bigger mess than usual, and you almost didn't drop in to Grillby's, you were so tired. But it was cold, the rain was actually more snow than water, and the wind was cutting through your worn winter coat like a particularly sharp and nasty knife. You would grab a quick hot chocolate and head for home. Oh, and you should probably ask if you could come in early to start with your cookies. 

Grillby had your hot chocolate waiting for you the moment you sat on your regular chair. He tilted his head a bit and pushed the menu forward, but you shook your head smiling wearily and said you were too tired to stay long. You sipped at your drink and sighed, relaxing. The bar was surprisingly devoid of its regular clientele, you presumed everyone was home making preparations for tomorrow. Grillby was putting up some decorations around the place. You noticed some strange greenery and asked about it, and Grillby brought out a laptop and showed you pictures of Underground plants. 

”Is it something like mistletoe?” you asked. 

”what is?” asked a voice behind you with a suspicious squelch of a ketchup bottle. 

”Oh, hi Sans. When did you pop in? This - snowleaf. Is it something like a mistletoe branch? As in, you hang it from the ceiling and kiss people underneath...” 

”no, it's just supposed to be decorative. you have a plant for kissing under? you people are weird. ”

Grillby's flames sputtered for a moment. 

”of course i wouldn't know, i'm not lippy enough for it. s'mooch more like a toothie” Sans replied, and you giggled tiredly. 

”Wonder if I should bring one” you mused aloud, not saying that you already had a branch home. You had gotten it from a classmate who worked occasionally at a florist's and had dealed their leftover greens to everyone as Christmas gifts. 

”sure, some people will be overjoyed. i want to see undyne's face - and alphys's. they'll have a _tongue_ of fun with it. it'll bring people together, probably."

You huffed at the puns, drank your chocolate a bit more slowly than you meant to, and watched the flickering orange flames on top of Grillby's head twirl and sparkle in concentration as he fixed the streamers and coloured lights above the windows. When he had arranged everything to his satisfaction he returned behind the counter and started to polish the row of glasses quite unnecessarily. 

You finished your hot chocolate, and he immediately tilted his head and reached for your mug. You got a refill before you could decline, and you just smiled a thanks and sipped your drink. 

"Could I - I mean, would you mind if I came here a little early to bake the cookies?" At a nod you smiled and asked what time would be convenient. Grillby just shrugged. The party would start about noon, you thought two hours would be definitely enough to bake and decorate at least a good portion of the cookies. You might even ask him who were the most likely to come early so you could have theirs ready. Maybe you should make a setting for the gingerbread monsters? Like, a gingerbread Grillby's with all the monsters inside, and people could pick their lookalikes and... well, eat them, probably. Sans would certainly make some obnoxious pun about it. 

You had your notebook out and were drawing plans for everything, and you practically forgot the time and that you were supposed to get home early. Grillby refilled your hot chocolate one more time before you noticed. 

”No, really, I need to get going. If I get here at about ten? Would it be OK?” Grillby nodded placidly and graciously allowed you to pay for your hot chocolates. You packed your notebook and shrugged your (warmed) coat on, and gave him a pleased smile. ”See you tomorrow, then. Thanks for letting me use your kitchen!” You waved at him going out of the door, and as he waved back, you felt a wave of warmth that followed you home through the icy streets.

The next day was the first day you retraced your steps straight to Grillby's without going to work first. You had a huge backpack full of things, and most of your morning had gone deciding what to wear. You knew it was very vain and probably needless, since everybody had mostly seen you in your workclothes, and you'd be in the kitchen anyways most of the day. You had a nice sweater with a Christmas motif in your backpack, something nice to go with it, and for the baking session a huge apron to go over your regular clothes. 

You had packed the mistletoe very carefully on top of everything, and besides you had managed to buy and make some little gifts for your regular friends. Your pack was heavy but you didn't mind; you were walking towards friends and a good time. You hoped. You blushed a bit thinking there might be a chance to get to know Grillby better, then you scolded yourself for dreaming about impossible things. The man never spoke; how come you could be sure he even liked you? Most likely he just pitied you or sympathized your situation because of his niece.

The bar was twinkling with lights, and there was an incredible thick layer of snow on the roof (there was no snow on the ground). Some large snow poffs were placed before the bar, and you saw Lesser Dog busy forming them into dog statues. You petted him in passing, and the snow dog he was making ended up with a very long neck. You watched him with amazement, but decided it was probably magic. 

The door was unlocked, and Grillby was busy with something or other behind the counter. He lifted his head when you came in and his flames sputtered a bit with actual sparks. You greeted him and set your backpack down to dig out the mistletoe, so you were only marginally aware that he made an awkward attempt to hide something. Well, it was Christmas, everyone had secrets. Maybe he was shy to show he had prepared some gifts for his niece? You carefully unwrapped your mistletoe and set it on a table.

”This should hang over a door or somewhere where people pass under it regularly”, you explained. ”It's supposed to be a surprise, but nobody wants to be _too_ surprised by it. You should also be able to go round it, if you don't want to be kissed.” A fiery hand took the green branch and lifted it to a point over the counter. Grillby tilted his head at you, and you shrugged. ”Why not? It's as good a place as any.” You went to pick your pack with its baking stuff and came back to the counter. The mistletoe was hanging just beside your regular place, you would have to be careful not to lean too far on your left. Grillby gestured towards the back, and you followed him through the fire exit to the kitchen. (Fire exit... you grinned to yourself. Would it say ”fire entrance” on the other side? No, it didn't. You were a bit disappointed.) 

The kitchen was your ordinary bar kitchen, except it was remarkably clean. No spilled fat anywhere, no old stains. The stove was immaculate. You wondered where he made his delicious burgers and fries, and then you saw that he had placed some baking tins ready on the counter. You dug your gingerbread cookie dough bucket from your backpack and thought you heard a slight sputter-like laugh. ”I plan to make one cookie for each! Sans said everybody would be here! Of course I'm going to need a lot of dough.” You set to work, and he watched quietly as you filled tin after tin with monster shapes. You enjoyed your baking, humming some Christmas carols from under your breath. After a while you thought you had baked enough to fill all the tins, but the tins kept appearing before you empty and clean. You wiped your brow with your sleeve and cast a curious eye around – and saw that he was using his fire magic to bake the cookies in seconds instead of minutes. Every one was baked perfectly brown and placed on a rack to cool. 

He lifted his hands from above another tin of cookies and turned to you. His flaming face was tinted slightly yellow as he stood there waiting for your reaction. You stared at him appropriately awed and then nodded at the last tin you had filled. There were the pieces of your gingerbread Grillby's, as well as Grillby himself, another flameheaded figure, and a very simplistic human gingerbread shape that was going to be you. He placed his hands over the tin, concentrated a moment, and a baking heat emanated from his hands and enveloped the tin with its cookies. He moved his hands a bit over the larger pieces so they would be evenly brown, and then he closed his hands. The heat dissipated. He moved the perfectly baked cookies onto a wire rack to cool and gave the tin a sweep. Searing heat burned away any residue left from the greasy dough, and the tin was ready to use again. 

You were impressed, but now your actual work began. You took your piping kit out of your pack and took the first batch of cookies for decoration. Now it was Grillby's turn to watch closely at your work. You asked to see the photo book again and started to bring all these marvellous creatures to vivid colours. Your skills hadn't deteriorated, although it had been a while since you had done this, and you were really proud when your art brought out an awed sigh from him. 

Soon enough every horizontal space in the kitchen was full of gingerbread figures waiting for the icing to dry, and it was beginning to be noon. Some people were already arriving, but you were busy decorating the gingerbread Grillby's and didn't notice when Muffet came in and gasped at your gingerbread people. 

”My deary, you didn't tell me you were an artist!” she cried, taking some of the gingerbread monsters to her hands for closer observation. You jumped, some of the icing sputtering onto the table, and carefully wiped it away before turning to her. 

”You like them?” you asked hopefully, putting forth your Muffet-cookie for her. 

”Oh my deary, I adore them! Your cookies look as delicious as you, I should wrap you in as an employee! You don't mind spiders, do you?” 

”N-no! I'd love to work for you, Muffet!”

”Ahuhuhu~ Well then, dearie, come to my café after the holidays and we'll have a chat. It would be good for the business to have human employees too. See you~!” And she slid from the kitchen holding her cookie in one of her hands. 

You finished your cookies just in time, went to the bathroom to slip into your festive clothes and carefully carried the cookie model out to the bar. You were busy placing all the cookie monsters inside, so you didn't notice the small crowd collecting behind you. 

When you had placed the last cookie inside, you turned and gasped at the monsters gathered to watch. They seemed enraptured by their cookie characters, and you had a fun time passing out cookies and learning their names and hearing their admiration. This really was a good idea. 

When you passed their cookies to the purple-dressed goat monster and her human child – you recognized the monster ambassador, although they had grown quite a bit – the child, Frisk, hugged you without reservations and signed quickly something that the goat monster translated. 

”Frisk says they love their cookie, and they ask how you managed to make it so life-like? Oh, and I'm Toriel, by the way, and I think they're great, too.” 

You laughed and told them you had wanted to become a confectioner and had practiced this a lot. You also told them Grillby had shown you pictures of all of them, and that it was very easy to paint a likeness if you had a model to look upon. 

You then had to explain the mistletoe to everyone, and it became the most popular activity during the party. The dog monsters tended to lick everyone who was anywhere near the plant – except Doggo, because he couldn't see anyone who stayed still – and you noticed that Frisk also took advantage of the mistletoe, kissing everyone without reservations. They had to pull some of the taller monsters down to their level, but some of the monsters just lifted them happily and kissed them anyways. Another huge goat monster in a Santa Claus outfit ambushed Toriel and made her giggle, and someone muttered to you it was good to see King Asgore and Queen Toriel so close again. Sans's larger brother Papyrus also tried to kiss everyone, though his version of kissing was just touching people with his teeth and saying ”MWAH” very loudly. You couldn't avoid him, but Sans seemed to be very skilled in being everywhere else than under the mistletoe, even when Papyrus practically dragged him underneath it. 

Unfortunately the one who you really wanted to kiss was mostly behind the counter, pouring drinks and passing foods. Both were excellent, abundant and free, and you felt like you were hanging around the counter not just to watch him but to eat yourself bloated. 

In a corner there was a lonely ghost DJ playing very interesting music mixes, and you gravitated slowly towards him in order to avoid the mistletoe rush. But before you could say a thing, a very fancy robot made a flashy entrance through the door and was met with several delighted cries. 

”Yes, beauties and gentlebeauties, it is me, METTATON, come to delight your festivities! After the show there'll be autographs and photographs! But first, let me perform the song from my latest movie! Blooky, Shyren, to the stage!” 

The robot began a grandiose performance which you fortunately missed in order to bake (him? It?) a cookie. Grillby saw you slipping into the kitchen and followed you. 

He watched you roll a piece of dough flat and cut a shape out of it, move it to a baking tin and then lean both your hands to the table and sigh. The crowd was getting a bit on your nerves. There were some other humans beside you and Frisk, a kid and her single mother who obviously were friends to Frisk and Toriel, and some who were possibly dating some of the monsters. Everyone was absolutely adorable and accommodating and lovely, but the sheer overwhelminess of it all was really getting to you. 

You felt a hesitating hand on your shoulder. The warmth emanating from it was easing your tension and you unconsciously leaned into it. Another hand was placed to your other shoulder and then you were drawn into a timid hug. You leaned your head into Grillby's chest and sighed. 

”I'm fine,” you offered. ”This is just... so much more than I've had for a while. I needed a moment away from it all. Thank you. I... I need to finish the cookie.” 

You felt a warmth in your hair and only after he had let go of you, you realized he had had his hands around you all the time. Had he... kissed your head? You waited a moment as he baked the cookie, then a few more moments while it cooled, and then you started to paint the cookie in order to give it to Mettaton. 

The robot was appropriately and grandiosely grateful of your gift, gifted you a signed picture of himself, and sailed out of the door just as showily as he had entered. Then it was time for the gifts.

You had passed your meager gifts into the gift pile, but weren't really waiting for anything for yourself. You were really surprised to get a small pile of gifts, though. The dogs gave you a deck of playing cards with a dog motif and some dog treats (they had signed the deck), the ketchup-stained joke book had to be from Sans, and apparently Asgore gave everyone a small bag of Monster Candy. 

You waited for your gift recipients' reactions, and wasn't disappointed when Sans fell from his chair laughing. You had found him a red hoodie which was the exact shade of Grillby's ketchup bottles and drawn into its back the label with the addition of ”Ketchup Inside”. Sans was laughing so hard he didn't notice he had rolled under the mistletoe, so you grasped the opportunity and kissed his bony cheek. 

He turned incredibly blue in colour and stopped laughing, and _that_ made you laugh. He rose quickly and took a side-step, and suddenly you found yourself under the mistletoe alone. 

Asgore took the opportunity to kiss you in turn, as he came to give you a final gift. The box was quite tiny and had no other label except your name in very neat hand-written letters, and you mumbled a thanks and moved out of the danger zone and climbed to your ordinary seat. 

Grillby was staring at his gift without words. You hadn't signed it, but the wrapping paper had gingerbread men in it, so it should be obvious. You hadn't had any idea what to give to him, until you had seen a store that sold charms for a key-chain. You had reasoned he needed some kind of a key-chain for the keys of the bar and the liquor storage and everything else, and you had put together a key-chain with some charms. There was an enamelled bright orange flame that reminded you of him, a smaller green flame for his niece, and the chain consisted of tiny silver heart shapes one of which was enamelled green. 

One of the things you had read of the monsters was that they had a way of seeing your soul. The soul was described as a traditional heart-shape, and the monsters' souls were said to be white but the humans' differed from person to person. You had no idea what colour your soul might be, so you had just picked your favourite colour. 

You now felt like your gift idea was stupid and you almost regretted giving it. It was too late now to retrieve it. You promptly forgot to open your last gift as another person sat beside you. 

”Hi. You're the human my uncle keeps talking about?” said the person. It was a bright green flame elemental, a young woman with a merry smile and bright eyes. You wondered why she had such a well-defined face as her uncle was so featureless, but were too shy to ask. 

”He... talks about me?” you repeated stupidly. You had never heard him speak. 

”Well, texts, but it's the same thing. Speaking hurts him so he only speaks when absolutely necessary. You did hear that he saved me when I was just a baby and I almost died in the same accident my parents did?” 

”Oh... so you're Fuku,” you said. ”No, I didn't. Well, Sans told me he took care of you, but nothing more...” 

She leaned in. ”He does talk about you, a lot,” she whispered with a crackling, laughing voice. ”I think he has a huge crush on you. And Sans claims you have a crush on him. Well, do you?”

You blushed, which kind of eliminated any objections you could have made. Fuku winked an eye at you and whispered, ”I'm going to my girlfriend's place for the night, so if you want to hit on him, there'll be no-one to be bothered.” You groaned and tried to bury your head into your hands, but there was the small box you had totally forgotten. 

”You haven't opened that yet? Go ahead.” Fuku slipped down from the chair, went behind the counter to hug her uncle and said loudly good-night. She grabbed the hand of the purple horned monster girl from the photo, gave you a little wave, and then they went out through the door. You noticed that most of the monsters had already left; it was starting to get late. 

You thought of the lonely way to home and your dreary apartment, pushed them from your mind for a moment and opened your gift. For a moment you didn't recognize it for what it was, since it was so surprising to see an ordinary key in a box fit for jewellery. You turned the box around to see if there was a card or some hint of its origin, but there was none. 

A slight crackle of fire made you look up. Grillby was standing quietly on your left, watching the half-demolished gingerbread model of his bar and the two gingerbread people left there, yours and his. He turned to you, but didn't move, just stood there waiting. 

As the silence was growing awkward, he made a little gesture upwards. You followed it and blushed as you realized what he was hinting at. 

"You're standing under the mistletoe" you said aloud, feeling stupid and not a little hot under the collar. He nodded and tilted his head questioningly. You slid from your chair, placed the little box on the counter and smoothed your clothes nervously. "You're sure?" you asked, he huffed and pulled you towards himself, and you reached up towards those mesmerizing flames to find something resembling a feathered mouth pressing onto your lips. The flames flickered against your skin softly and warmly, but there was substance underneath. The kiss took your breath away. He was so warm, very warm, and almost painfully gentle as if he was expecting you to pull away any moment. 

Finally you had to breathe, and you leaned back only to look at him again. He let go of your arms and was turning away, but you made a little forbidding noise and leaned in to kiss him again. This time he didn't hesitate in wrapping his arms around you and kissing you with more passion. 

Your hands strayed down from his shoulders and around to his back as your kiss deepened. It felt like hugging a burning log. For some reason you never felt pain, although his temperature had to be too high for a human to endure. You slid your hands down to cup his ass, and his delicious shivering made you smile into the kiss. His hold of you tightened and a slight moan escaped from his mouth into yours. When you had to breathe again he carefully pushed you to an arm's length and nodded towards the back of the bar. 

Your breath hitched. Was he suggesting – 

He let go of you as if ashamed and turned away. The bright flames on top of his head lowered and dimmed a bit before you followed him and wrapped your arms around him. You pressed your cheek on his back and muttered, ”Are you suggesting what I think you are suggesting? Because if you are, fuck yeah. I'd follow you anywhere.” 

He stiffened under your touch and turned surprisingly nimbly around without breaking your hold. He lifted your face and searched it for something you desperately hoped he found there, and then pressed a series of feather-light kisses on your lips. You felt his breath, hot and uneven, on your cheek and then you heard his voice for the first time. It was very dark, crackling with sparks and hesitant. ”You're sure about this?”

You nodded and tightened your grip on him. 

”Like I said. See, we're the last gingerbread people in the bar...” 

He sweeped you from your feet and carried you to the back.


End file.
